Fighting Harder
by arabturky
Summary: Katniss and Peeta are best friends, maybe even more. What happens when they are thrown into the 74th Hunger Games? Katniss will do whatever it takes to get Peeta home, even killing the District 7 tributes:Gale and Madge. Better than summary. Many plot twists! Everlark/Gadge
1. Chapter 1

**II was talking to my friend and I became interested in an idea, so I'm going to try it. Give it a chance. **

**Shout out to my beta **_**Josh4eva3**_** for her awesome beta-ing skills! **

**Chapter 1**

**Katniss POV**

I was in the woods, hunting. I wanted to be sure that if neither Prim, Peeta or I get reaped today, that I would have enough food to make a small feast for our luck. So far, I had a couple of squirrels and a rabbit. I then spotted something brown, which I recognized as a deer, eating leaves. I closed my left eye, aimed, and was about to shoot when a twig snapped. The deer looked up and ran away. I aimed my bow to where I heard my intruder and saw Peeta standing, with his arms up.

"What were you going to do with a deer?"

**"**Peeta! That was for today!" I said before lowering my bow.

"It's okay, if we all make it out, I'll bring the food" Peeta said. It was now a small tradition that if everyone we cared about got out of the reaping safely; we would hold a small feast at my house to celebrate.

"I don't know if were going to have a feast this year, my odds are definitely not in my favor," I said, with a pronounced Capitol accent. I laughed, but Peeta didn't.

"Don't joke about that," Peeta said quietly. I heard an animal moving closer to us; I could tell it was an animal because I heard four feet, instead of two. I took my bow and silently walked after the animal. It was another rabbit. Once again, I closed my left eye, aimed and released. I heard Peeta trudging closer to me.

"Peeta, you have the loudest footsteps I have _ever_ heard," I said and laughed. I took the rabbit and threw it in my game bag. "Come on, let's go," I said and we both took off to the fence, I easily slipped under and turned around to see Peeta carefully going under it.

"Okay, I'll see you at the justice building," Peeta said. He walked off in the direction of the town, and I walked off in the direction of the Seam.

"Peeta! Good luck, and may the odds be…" I said in my capitol accent.

"Ever in your favor," He said, his tone matching my own. I laughed, and continued to make my way to my house in the Seam. I walked into my house and saw my mother helping Prim with her hair.

"You look pretty, little duck, but tuck your tail in," I said and laughed. It was typical Prim to have a bit of her shirt hanging out.

"I have something for you to wear," My mother said to me in a small, frail voice. I looked to her and I saw her holding a nice, blue dress. Back from her days living in the town. I quickly nodded and took it from her. I wore the dress and walked out.

"Wow, Katniss! You're so pretty!" I heard Prim say, I smiled lightly and looked at her.

"I thought I could do your hair…" My mother said.

"Okay," I said and sat down. My mom then started to work on my hair. I felt her put my hair into a complicated braid. She then stood up and admired her work.

"Thanks," I mumbled. I decided I would head off to the justice building now.

"Come on, Prim," I said. Prim came up and took my hand. We walked to the Justice building.

"Don't worry Prim, they're just going to take a small blood sample, then go and stand with the twelve's, okay?" She nodded and then walked off. I went and stood by the sixteen's. My eyes connected with Peeta's. Peeta gave me a small, forced smile. I just looked at him, and looked at the ground. Our only live victor, Haymitch Abernathy, came up the stage, stumbling before he fell. Peacekeepers came and took him and put him on a chair. We saw Effie Trinket, sporting a light pink wig.

"Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor"

"Ladies first!" When I heard this, I prayed that it wouldn't be Prim or myself. Effie walked over to a glass bowl filled with many, many papers. I saw her slowly put her hand into the bowl and move around before choosing a paper. She unfolded the paper and stepped to the microphone.

"Our 74th Hunger Games female tribute will be Primrose Everdeen!" Everything happened so fast.

"Prim! Prim!" I yelled her name over and over again as I saw her walk up to the stage.

"I volunteer as tribute!" I said, putting my hand up. The crowd fell silent. Prim started sobbing and she hugged me. I saw the peacekeepers ask her to back away but she wouldn't. I then saw Peeta come in and take her. My head was spinning and all I could focus on was the stage.

"Well, I believe there's a process of introducing the original tribute before asking for volunteers…" Effie said uncertainly. No one really knew what happened.

"Who cares?" said the mayor.

"Okay, well, and who might you be?" Effie asked, smiling brightly again.

"Katniss Everdeen," I said into the microphone.

"I'd bet my buttons that was your sister! Didn't want her to steal all the glory did we?" _How sick._

"And now, for the male tribute!" Effie then walked over to another bowl, containing thousands of papers. All I could hope for now was that it wouldn't be Peeta. That it would be anyone but Peeta.

"Our 74th Hunger Games male tribute will be Aston Becker," It wasn't Peeta, which I was grateful for. It was a kid from the Seam who couldn't be more than 13 years old. He began trembling uncontrollably and ever so slowly, made his way to the stage. From the stage, I looked over to where Peeta was standing. But he wasn't there. He was running to the stage.

"I volunteer as tribute!" Peeta said. No! He couldn't be doing this.

"Don't Peeta! I will hate you if you do this!" I yelled at him, but I knew that that wouldn't stop him.

"What a turn of events, two volunteers from District 12!" Effie said.

"I like these ones! They've got spunk, more spunk than you!" Haymitch said, it was unclear to whether he was talking to the crowd or the capitol but it didn't matter because he then fell.

"Very well now, shake hands," Effie said as she turned around motioning at Peeta and me. Peeta opened his arms for a hug, and instead of hugging him, I went and started hitting his chest.

"You idiot! You weren't supposed to do this! What if you get hurt in the games? How about our families? You put yourself in danger!" I said as I continued to hit him. Peacekeepers then came and restrained me.

"How about a round of applause for our 74th Hunger Games tributes" Effie said. The crown was silent. Then one man, put his three middle fingers to his lips, kissed his fingers and raised them. The crown soon followed. I knew what this sign meant, it was a sign of respect, or honor. Normally it was used at funerals. That made me feel a whole lot better. The peacekeepers then escorted Peeta and I to the rooms so we could say good-bye to our families and friends. The first people that came in were my mother and Prim. Prim immediately came and hugged me. She was sobbing into my dress.

"Katniss, you shouldn't have done it! I could have gone in. This is all my fault!"

"Prim, listen, its not your fault okay? You have to use Lady and make cheese from now on okay? Trade with the baker or the mayor's daughter, Delly. Find eatable plants, but whatever you do, do not sign up for tesserae!" Prim nodded into my dress and continued to cry.

"Katniss, promise me that you'll try!" Prim said. She knew she couldn't make me promise to try to come home, not with Peeta in the games.

"I promise little duck," I said. I turned to face my mother.

"Don't blackout again. She needs you now" I said. My mother nodded. I pulled her into a hug before the peacekeepers came.

"Katniss! Katniss!" I heard Prim's screams becoming more distant. The next person that came in was Peeta's dad. He was holding a small package from the bakery.

"I'm sorry this had to happen to you," Peeta's father said. "I brought these." He said before handing me the package of pastries. I nodded and looked away.

"He's going to make sure you come out alive, don't worry," He said softly.

"That's the thing! I don want to come out alive! I have nothing to live for! He does, he's the better of us, he is coming out alive," I practically yelled. I didn't know why I was confessing this to Peeta's father of all people, but he just nodded.

"I'll make sure your family is fed, don't worry about them" He said before the peacekeepers came. He stood up, gave me one last look. "Good luck, Katniss," He said before walking out. I sat there for a while before the door opened again. I don't know who it would be; I wasn't exactly Miss Popular in District 12. I preferred being alone. I saw long blonde hair and recognized it as Delly.

"Hi," She said softly.

"Hi," I said back. The reason Delly and I got along so well was because we both preferred speaking only few words. She took something out of her pocket, and unwrapped it. It was a gold mocking jay pin.

"This is for you," She said softly. I didn't understand. What would I do with that?

"Tributes are allowed to wear something from their District as a token, I was hoping you could wear this," she said. Now I understood. I nodded and took it from her hand. She hugged me and the Peacekeepers came in.

"Good luck, Katniss," She said before walking out.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Gale POV**

I walked out of the trees and toward my house. Today was reaping day, although it was my last year I was worried. My name was entered forty-two times in the reaping bowl. When my shift at the lumber station wasn't enough to feed my family, I had to look for other options. Options such as taking tesserae, or illegal hunting. Being from District 7, I was well accustomed to knives and especially axes. I walked home with my axe over my back. The door was open so I saw Rory getting ready, attempting to straighten out his hair.

"Gale! Hurry, your clothes are laid out on your bed," My mother said and pushed me off in the direction of my room. I went and put on the clothes laid for me. It was simple, a white shirt with black pants. It's all we could have afforded.

"Hurry up Gale! Were going to be late!"

"Okay Rory, I'm almost done!" I yelled back. I went outside and saw Rory waiting for me.

"Let's go," I said. I was instructed to go stand with the eighteen's. Rory went over to the fifteen's and we waited. Mayor Undersee came and gave his speech. I looked around for the one person I occasionally talk to: Madge Undersee. I spotted her flowing, blonde hair standing next to the seventeen's. How I wish I were the mayors child. It wasn't fair, some people, such as Madge, get things handed to them while others, such as myself, have to strive just to get food on the table. However, that didn't stop me from becoming friends with Madge.

I looked at the stage and saw the mayor go and sit down with our latest victors: Johanna Mason and Blight. Johanna looked like she couldn't care less about the reaping. The district escort walked over to the bowls. She is starting with males this year, since she started with females last year. She dipped her hand into the bowl slowly. Her hand fished around in the bowl before her fingers picked up a name.

_Please, don't let it be me,_ I thought to myself.

"Our male tribute for the 74th Hunger Games will be Gale Hawthorne," She said, with a bright smile that the situation really didn't call for.

_Oh, well, shit. It was me._

I masked all emotions from my face and walked up to the stage. My hands were fisted up and in my pockets. I stared at the floor the whole time until I heard somebody say "Madge Undersee". I looked up to see Madge walk toward the stage. She was the female tribute? Until now, I never even knew that she was in the reaping bowl. And even if she was, she probably only had one slip. How could she have gotten picked?

"Shake hands with each other," The escort said. I kept my hands in my pocket and glared at her. We were ushered into the justice building. The peacekeeper took us to our rooms. The door opened and my family walked in. I saw Rory and Vick stride in quickly, trying to cover up how they were feeling. Rory's face was hard; he was trying to be strong, unlike the rest of my family, who were crying. Posy came and attached herself to my leg. My mother and Vick came in, embraced me in a hug. Rory just stood there.

"Listen, we don't have much time. Rory, the axe is in the closet. You have to start working, I'm so sorry," I said quickly.

"No Gale, we're the ones who are sorry" My mother said. The peacekeeper then came in which meant that my family had to leave. I heard many "I love you"'s before the door slammed. I didn't have any more visitors but I wasn't surprised. I wasn't exactly what you considered friendly. The peacekeeper then escorted Madge and I to the train that would take us to the capitol. We silently sat on the couch in the train and waited for something to happen.

Something interesting most definitely happened.

Johanna Mason walked in, naked. My eyes popped out of my head when I saw this. It was not something I expected. Blight must have noticed my reaction because he started laughing.

"Could you put clothes on?" Madge asked in a quiet voice. Johanna laughed at this before taking a robe and putting it on.

"Okay, give us advice about how to win," I asked eagerly.

"Whoa there, don't get ahead of yourself," Johanna said. The escort then came in with a DVD.

"Time to watch the other Districts reapings!" She said in her stupid Capitol accent. We got up and sat in the couches in front of the TV. She placed the DVD in the TV and it came up. The career districts are all volunteers. I made a list of all possible enemies and allies, just in case I needed one. The first threats I saw were from District 1 and 2. Marvel and Glimper? I think; District 1 always has weird names. District 1 looked like threats. I then saw District 2. A large man hurdled to the stage, he was at least 200 pounds, but not of fat, of muscles. He was going to be a definite threat. Then the girl volunteer stood up. Even though the girl was tiny, she looked sadistic. Then came my own reaping. I didn't want to watch it after living it so I casted my yes downward the whole time. All the other districts were normal to me, until District 11. A large, dark man was called. He made his way to the stage just like I had, no emotion. Then a small girl was called. Nobody volunteered for her. I put her on my mental list of possible allies. The last district was District 12. I hadn't expected anything special. _They would probably be some starved children, just like me. _How wrong I had been. The girl was called. At first she didn't move, but then the District 12 escort asked for her to come forward. I saw a small girl, with two blonde braids, the same size as District 11's girl's tribute. She hesitantly walked over to the stage. I heard somebody yell a name, which I'm assuming was her own. A girl pushed her way through the crowd. She raised her hand before saying:

"I volunteer as tribute!" A volunteer? From District 12? I looked at the girl that volunteered. It was obvious that the only reason she was volunteering was to save the girl, her cousin maybe? The smaller girl began yelling and crying as the older one walked to the stage.

"What's you name?" The District 12 escort asked.

"Katniss Everdeen" She said. Her face was emotionless, even more than me. She looked straight into the camera, her eyes filled with fire as she spoke.

"I'd bet my buttons that was your sister, didn't want her to steal all the glory?" Katniss stared at the escort before looking down. Then a similar situation occurred. A small, lanky boy was called but before he could make his way all the way up to the stage, a blonde boy came and volunteered. He made his way to the stage and the two tributes looked at each other, did they know each other? He opened his arms out for a hug, which probably would have been a really nice touch. Except that's not what the girl did. She started hitting him over and over.

"You idiot! You weren't supposed to do this! What if you get hurt in the games? How about our families? You put yourself in danger!" She knew him, and by what she was yelling, they were close. She was a fighter, I could tell. That could help us, or go against us. I decided I had enough so I got up and walked around.

"What an interesting change of events," Madge said and I agreed. These hunger games were going to be far from normal.


	3. Chapter 3

Forgot to mention, I don't own Hunger games, Suzanne Collins does. And a great job to my beta!

**Chapter 3**

**Cato'S POV**

I waited for a tribute to be called before I could volunteer. I had been planning this moment since the day I could walk and I was not going to lose it. The tribute was called and he went up to the stage.

"I volunteer," I said, pushing my way through the crowd. I held my head up in pride and made my way to the stage.

"And what might your name be?" The escort asked.

"Cato Armstrong," _Idiot. _Who doesn't know my name?

"How about a round of applause for the District 2 volunteer" I smiled smugly at the crowd as the crowd applauded me.

"Now for the females," The escort went and took a name out of the bowl. She said the name to the crowd. Clove then volunteered. _No Clove! I'm going to have to kill you! _I said. Why would she volunteer? She walked up to stage and took her spot next to mine. She looked at me and smirked. I had the biggest urge to slap her face but I kept control of myself because we were in public. The peacekeepers then escorted us to the Justice building. I went into my room and sat down, waiting for my first visitor. My family was the first people that walked in.

"Bring us pride" My father said and I nodded.

"We are proud of you," My mother said. I looked at my brother and I saw him glaring at me. He was just jealous that he never got a chance of going into the games. Jealous bastard. I shrugged it off and focused onto my parents. Luckily, they didn't stay much longer. They hugged me and left. My next visitors were my friends.

"You have a group of girls outside crying," Blade said before laughing. I laughed with him too because it was probably true.

"Yeah man. It's true," Another friend said. Like_ I_ didn't know it was true.

"Good luck man" They all said as the left. The next people to visit me were in fact girls.

"Cato! How could you do this?" _How couldn't I do this? Stupid whore._

"Cato! I thought we were in love," The next girl said between sobs. Many things such as that were said before the peacekeeper came in and asked them to leave, for which I was grateful. They were the last of my visitors too. Clove and I were then escorted out of the Justice building and into the train that would take us to the capitol. We wouldn't spend too much time on the train because District 2 was fairly close to the capitol. I sat down at the kitchen and waited for food to show up.

"Off the table Cato," Someone said. I turned around and saw Brutus, the male mentor. Enobaria soon came in after him.

"Cato, I don't like to repeat myself," Brutus said. I knew he was violent, so I decided to hurry up and get off.

"Okay now, let's talk," Enobaria said and pointed at the chairs. We all sat there.

"Okay, well, we already saw the other reapings and it looks like you have no competition. Maybe only the District 7 and 11 boys. Everyone else looked like a wuss." I snorted at this. District 7 and 11 was competition? For real? "So once you manage to take those two contender down, you're pretty much one. It will easily come between you two," Brutus said.

"I'm sure I'll come out victorious" I said and leaned back into my chair.

"Sure you will," Clove said.

"Clove, that's why you shouldn't have volunteered. Because sure you might be the most ferocious girl there, but I will always defeat you," I said and walked up to grab something to drink. I reached for the cup of water but then I felt something brush against my hair. I looked up and saw a butter knife stuck to the wall.

"You're lucky I aimed to miss," Clove said before walking out of the room

"Okay guys! We will be arriving extremely soon!" Enobaria said. She was probably trying to lighten the mood. I looked at the clock on the wall; we'd already been on the train for 4 hours.

"Now, its time to eat," Brutus said. I scurried off to the table and food was brought in. I ate everything on the table.

"Where's dessert?" Clove asked.

"District 2 doesn't get dessert," Brutus said.

"No dessert? Why?"

"Because dessert is for the weak," I said and I laughed. Clove turned her head and glared at me. The train then came to a stop, indicating that we were at the capitol.

"Finally," Enobaria said as she got up. The rest of us got up and headed toward the exit of the train. I held my head high and left the train. We saw the cameras and the people but I didn't pay attention. I just walked to the building.

"Okay, we have a couple hours before the other trains come," Our escort said. We nodded and headed out to our rooms. The rooms were impressive. A large bed was placed in the middle, on the right was a dresser filled with clothes. I looked around the room before concluding that nothing in here would keep me occupied for a couple hours.

"Clove," I yelled her name out, hoping she would reply. Even though Clove and I argued, a lot, it didn't mean we hated each other.

"Room 4," Clove yelled back. I walked down the hall until I reached her room. I opened the door and saw her looking through the closet.

"I'm bored, so you're going to keep me company," I said. She snorted.

"Says who?"

"Says me. Lets practice fighting," I said. She looked at me like I was crazy.

"What? You too scared you'll lose?" She rolled her eyes and put the clothes in her hand away.

"Okay then. Let's do it," She positioned herself in a fighting stance and I did the same. She first came at me with a kick, which I easily blocked. I went to punch her shoulder but she moved away. We went on like this for about an hour. Although I was extremely strong, she was fast, which made it hard for me to get her. I finally kicked her in her stomach, which caused her to fall onto the bed. I got on the bed to pin her down. I put my legs on each side of her legs. She then flipped us over so that she was on top of me. She thrust into me making me grunt. We went on for another couple hours. Even though I hated to admit it, she did have a chance of winning the games.

"Cato! Clove! Hurry on and go with your stylist" Clove and I both looked at each other.

"Next time Clove, I'll get you," I said.

"Sure you will," Clove said. We both left her room and walked toward our separate stylist.

"Ew. You're all sweaty now, Hurry up and get him into a shower," The three took me and pushed me into a shower. I took a short shower since I knew they would be waiting. I walked out naked too because I knew that even if I did put clothes on, I would have to take it off.

"Good, you saved us the trouble of taking your clothes off," One of the people said. They pushed me onto a table and began working. I had to sit through 2 hours of my prep team "perfecting" me._As if I wasn't already Perfect._

"Okay, Endavia is ready to see you" My prep team then rushed off to retrieve my stylist. My stylist entered the room and eyed me. She walked around and inspected me.

"Good, they did as I asked," She said.

"What am I going to be wearing?" I asked. I didn't want to waste time.

"You and your district partner are going to be dressed as stone workers, you guys are going to be gladiators!" She said. Although I didn't understand how gladiators would reflect masonry, I didn't argue.

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	4. Chapter 4

**Hello Readers! **

**Unfortunetly, this is not a chapter. But please read! Its important! **

**Once again, I would like to thank my beta, Josh4eva3. If anyone needs a beta, I would recommend her. She's awesome! She's fast at beta-ing and she's a fun person to chat with. **

**Next, I would like to advertise my friend ****QuidditchOlympianIvy DiAngelo. **** If your a fan on Percy Jackson, read her stories! She is an original author and we would both really appreciate it if you could.**

**It also came to my attention that some people think my stories aren't original..? So Im sorry if that is what you think and I promise I will try to add many plot twist to my stories so they're original. I have many plot twists made up. **

**The last thing, is that I forgot to put a disclaimer in this story. So here it is: The Hunger games does not belong to me, it belongs to Suzanne Collins.**

**Thanks! And dont forget to review! **


	5. Chapter 5

**atniss' POV**

**Chapter 4**

The peacekeepers escorted us into the train. I kept my head down the whole time; I didn't want to look at Peeta. The escorted us into the District 12 train, the train that would take us to the Capitol. Effie then came and took over the peacekeepers' job. She showed us our rooms and informed us that we had to be down for dinner in fifteen minutes. The room I was put in was amazing. Much more expensive then anything I had seen in District 12. I washed myself up quickly and went to the dining room. I saw Haymitch sitting on a couch with a drink in his hand. Peeta was sitting across him.

"Okay, what's some advice on how to make it out of the Cornucopia?" I asked. If I planned on keeping both Peeta and I alive, I needed all the help I could get.

"You want advice? Stay alive," Haymitch said, and started laughing. Does he want us to die? Before I could make a move, Peeta jumped out and punched Haymitch in the jaw. The glass fell from Haymitch's hand and shattered on the floor. Haymitch's shoulders tensed and he looked at Peeta. His fist curled up, Haymitch was going to punch Peeta back. Haymitch raised his fist, but before it could touch Peeta's face, I intercepted his fist with my own hand. Although it did hurt my hand, a lot, I made sure I wouldn't let Haymitch know that it had hurt. I threw Haymitch's hand back and looked at his gray seam eyes.

"You're our mentor! You have to help us!" I said. Haymitch found this funny. He kept laughing as he reached to get another drink. My anger started to boil. I took the closest thing next to me, a knife, and threw it at him. It landed right between his fingers. He turned around to face us.

"What have we got here, have I got a pair of fighters this year?" He looked at us and examined us. "What skills do you guys have?"

"I'm okay with a bow and arrow."

"Okay? She's more than okay! She can hit any target in the eye on her first try!" Peeta said. I looked at Peeta, what was he doing? "She's the best archer anyone has ever seen!" Okay, well, two can play at this game.

"Peeta can carry over hundred pound items with ease! He can carry 150 pounds of flour like it's nothing!"

"Yeah, because I'm sure the arena will have flour bags I can chuck at people."

"Well, alright, but that means he can take care of himself in a hand to hand fight."

"Katniss can run really fast, and she can climb trees even faster than squirrels."

"Peeta's pretty good at throwing knives."

"I'm good, but Katniss is great with knifes too."

"Okay, STOP IT!" Haymitch said. "I understand both of you have skills. I'll make a deal with you guys; if you don't interfere with my drinking, I'll stay sober enough to help you." Knowing this was probably our only option, we accepted.

"Perfect! Our tributes are on time! Let's have dinner now," Effie said as she walked in. Servants then came in and put food on the dinner table. I quickly went and sat at the table, eyeing all the different food. It was _so_ appetizing. It was probably the most food I had ever ate in my entire life. I picked up the silverware, and dug in.

"Wonderful! These tributes have manners! Last years tributes were animals, always eating with their hands and wiping their hands on the tablecloth," Effie said as she wrinkled her nose in disgust. Last years tributes were from the Seam. They never had a decent meal in their life. Even I was better off than them. The only reason I knew how to use silver ware was because my mother taught me. I looked at Effie and put my silverware away. I then proceeded to eat the rest of my meal with my hands.

I was green by the time I finished eating. An Avox – though I didn't know it at the time - came to clear the food.

"Oh! I know you!" I said.

"How could you possibly know an Avox?"

"What's an Avox?"

"Someone who committed a bad crime. Their tongues are taken out so they can't talk." They cut her tongue out? I know I saw her. I saw her in the woods. Her and a boy. Their clothes were tattered; they had bags under their eyes and probably had not had a decent meal for a while. If only I helped her, maybe she wouldn't be in this position.

"Delly Cartwright!" Peeta said. "She's a dead ringer for Delly Cartwright!" I know he was lying. He was trying to help.

"Oh, that must be it," I said and looked down. Before anybody could say anything else, I got up and walked to my room. I stayed there for the rest of the day doing multiple things. I heard somebody knock on the door. I assumed that it was Peeta; I still didn't want to talk to him so I didn't answer the door.

After waking up from a horrible dream, I decided it was time to go meet with the others. I saw breakfast on the table so I went to eat.

"What a big, big day! We arrive at the capitol in one hour!" Effie said. I saw someone pull out a chair next to me, it was Haymitch. No way Peeta could have pulled the chair out without me hearing. Breakfast was silent.

"Lets see the tributes from other Districts." I said.

"What a great, great idea! I'll go get the DVD, go sit down in front of the TV dear!" I did as she said. She put the DVD in and turned the TV on. Peeta and Haymitch soon came to watch with me. As usual, District 1 and 2 were Careers. District 2 looked vicious. I immediately knew that they were going to be enemies. The next tribute that popped out was the District 5 female. It wasn't because she looked malicious, such as the District 2 female, but she looked clever. I decided to stay away; I didn't want or need allies in the games. The District 7 reaping was also something interesting. I saw a boy, a bit over 6 feet. He looked like he could be from the Seam. He had dark hair, grey eyes and an olive complexion. Nothing was special about the female tribute. I watched District 11's reaping. A large man, possibly bigger than the District 2 tribute, was reaped. A small girl, the age of Prim was then reaped. My heart broke when I saw this, how could they put a young girl in the arena? We decided not to watch our own tribute ceremony so we turned the TV off.

"Okay, who do you guys want to consider as allies?"

"I don't want allies," I said. It was true, if I made allies in the games, it would make it harder to kill them.

"I'm not sure about that Katniss…" Peeta said. I rolled my eyes.

"One ally is enough Peeta," I said. Even though I never asked, I assumed that Peeta would be my ally. Peeta and Haymitch both looked at me but then dropped the conversation. I knew that this conversation wouldn't be over.

"Okay! We are at the Capitol" Effie said. We all stood up and made our way toward the exit of the train. I walked out with a scowl on my face, unlike Peeta, who was smiling and waving. I looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"One of them could be rich," He said and continued smiling. We finally made it inside the building and up to floor 12.

"Okay, your prep teams are going to come and get you ready for the tribute parade tonight. You may not like everything they do, but don't complain," Haymitch said and I nodded. I went to take a nap until the Prep team would come.

"I think she's awake now" I heard someone say. I opened my eyelids to see three people in front on me. They all introduced themselves to me.

"Come on, we're late so we need to catch up!" They pulled me off the bed and took me out of my bedroom. We walked for a bit until we reached a room. They opened the door and threw me on the table. Around me were many machines that looked kind of creepy. They three of them immediately began working on my hair, nails and waxing. The removed every single peace of hair on my body and scrubbed my skin. It went on like this for over three hours. By the time I was done, all my hair had been plucked, all of the excess skin had been removed, my nails had been cleaned and my hair had been styled. Make up had also been applied to my face.

"Perfect! Cinna can now see you!" Venia said. They all hurried off to the exit. Minutes later, a dark man came in. He was about 6 feet and had a fit build. Unlike most of the other capitol people, he looked normal. The only thing that let you know that he was from the capitol was the thin line of gold eyeliner in his eyes. However, it suited him.

"Hello, I'm Cinna. Your stylist," Cinna said. He extended his hand and I shook it.

"Sorry they stuck you with 12," I said. Every new stylist was stuck with District 12 until they would advance.

"Portia and I asked to be with 12," Cinna replied with a smile on his face.

"Why?"

"Do you know what District 12 represents?"

"Yeah, coal mining," That was the only thing they taught you at school. Not that it mattered or anything.

"We are going to focus on the coal this year, and not the mining. Coal gets burned, correct?" He looked at me and I nodded, even though I didn't work in the mines, this was basic information.

"We are going to light you and your District partner on fire. Of course, its not real fire. It's synthetic fire, so you will be completely safe." He turned around and opened a large, black body bag. He reached inside the bag and pulled out a black cat suit.

"Put this on" He said as he reached over to hand the suit to me. The material felt cold. I ran my hands along the bodice. I opened the zipper and slipped it on. It fit perfectly and was comfortable. I walked around to get used to it.

"Great! You look perfect in it!" Cinna said. Cinna then instructed me to follow him. I followed him all the way to the elevator.

"It's time for the tribute parade, I'm going to meet Portia, your partners stylist. I will meet you in front of the chariots." I nodded and continued my way to the chariots. This would be the first time I would actually see the other tributes. I kept my axe down until I made it to the chariots. I saw Peeta standing there with a smile.

"So, fire, eh?" Peeta said. I nodded.

"I'll rip your cape off if you rip mine," He said and raised his eyebrow. I gave a small laugh.

"Okay," I said and smiled.

"Does that mean you're not mad at me?"

"No, but I decided to talk to you," I said.

"Good, because I missed you," Peeta said before hugging me. Truth is, I missed him too, but I knew I wouldn't say that.

"Okay now, up on your chariots," Cinna said. We got up on our chariots, just like he instructed us. He then set us on fire. I waited until I felt the burn, but it didn't come. Instead, it felt like a cool breeze.

"Okay now, smile and wave. Katniss, blow kisses or something," Cinna said and I nodded. We waited on the chariot until it started moving. We soon were facing the crowds. The crowds were screaming and cheering us on. That's when I relayed, they were screaming our names. Peeta and my name were being chanted throughout the whole arena. I looked at Cinna, he was motioning something.

"I think he wants us to hold hands," Peeta said. I looked at Cinna again and grabbed Peeta's hand. Peeta lifted our hands to the air and the crowd went wild with this. Roses were being thrown at our direction. The chariot then came to a stop with all the other chariots in the semi circle. I looked around to all the other tributes. District 1 was dressed in a stupid pink outfit. My eyes then turned to District 2, who were dressed as gladiators. They were glaring at us. If looks could kill, then I would be dead. I squeezed Peeta's hand harder. I looked up at his face and saw that he was glaring right back at them. President Snow then started the speech. I looked at Peeta again, who was still glaring at the District 2 male. The girl was staring at the screen, which was showing Peeta and I. Peeta then laughed at the boy, and pulled me closer to him. He secured his arm around my waist. His arm was tensed, I could tell. I looked at the other tributes; most of them had dumb outfits. I looked at District 7, they were dressed as trees. Thank _God_ we didn't have their stylist. The District 7 boy looked like he could kill everyone in the room. His face was emotionless. The girl on the other hand, had a small smile. Her eyes kept darting to the boy, was something going on between them? I looked at District 11, they were dressed as farmers. The small girl looked happy at least, but the boy looked like he could care less about the ceremony.

The chariots began to move again, except now they were going to take us back into the building. I looked down and saw that I was still holding Peeta's hand. The chariot then came to a stop and we got out. I saw the District 2 tributes walk toward us. I let go of his hand because I was sure I was squeezing it much too hard.

"Don't let go," Peeta said in a whisper. I nodded and took a hold of his hand again. The District 2 male bumped into Peeta. I could tell he did it on purpose. His eyes were focused on his District partner the whole time as he spoke.

"I know Clove, I'm going to have fun killing District 12. Maybe I'll have some fun with the girl first, show her how good I am in bed, before killing her. What do you think?" Peeta's arm tensed incredibly, I could see his veins popping out. His jaw clenched and his eyes were on the boy.

"Don't do anything irrational Peeta, it'll just land you in trouble," I said to him, while rubbing circles into his hands.

"But he-!" I interrupted him there because I knew that if he continued, he would get angrier.

"I know what he did. But that won't happen, now come on. Lets get back to our floor" I said and pulled his arm. He started walking with me into the elevator. Unfortunately, the elevator wasn't empty. The District 7 tributes were in it. Either way, we got on.

"Nice outfits, I wish out stylist would do that for us!" The girl said. The girl was pretty, really pretty. She had long hair and blue eyes. Just like Peeta.

"Yeah, we were lucky," Peeta said and laughed. The elevator stopped at the 7th floor and the tributes got off, leaving just Peeta and I.

"By the way, I forgot to tell you. You looked beautiful out there," Peeta said.

"Thanks, you looked handsome too."

We got off the elevator and walked to our floors.

"Perfect! You guys did perfect!" Cinna congratulated us.

"You guys did do great. Who's idea was the hand holding?" Haymitch asked.

"It was Cinna's," I replied.

"That was just the perfect touch of rebellion," Haymitch said. Rebellion? What? "Anyways, go to your room so us grown ups can talk."

"I want to stay," I said.

"Go to you room sweetheart," Haymitch said.

"But-"

"Come on Katniss, let's go," Peeta said and pulled me in the direction of the rooms.

"Good night Katniss" Peeta said. He kissed my cheek and walked off to his room. I then turned around and walked into my room. I immediately stripped off the suit and put it away. I got rid of my make up and let my hair out of the complicated braid and instead put it in my simple side braid. I looked at all the clothes and chose a green shirt and knee length shorts to put on. I decided I would go to Peeta's room. Surely he wouldn't mind. I left my room and walked across the hall to Peeta's room. I knocked the door once and waited. Peeta came and answered the door. He moved to the side and let me in.

"Got bored?" He asked.

"Yeah, I had nothing to do," I admitted.

"Yeah me too, I was actually about to go over to your room," He said. I got on his bed and sat on it.

"You know I hate you for volunteering," I said.

"You couldn't expect me to sit back and let you go into an arena without me? Where's the fun in that?" Peeta said in a joking mood.

"It's not funny Peeta. What am I going to do if someone hurts you? You know I hate it when you get hurt!" Peeta stayed silent, which was probably best for him. I would have probably yelled at him more if he said anything else. He reached for the TV and turned it on. The first thing that came on was Caesar Flickerman and his co-host who's name I failed to remember.

"There will definitely be many surprises, don't you think so Claudius?" Caesar asked.

"For sure, did you see the tributes this year?"

"District 12 was amazing this year, they will surely not be forgettable. I mean, did you see their outfits? What a great job their stylists did!"

"That was amazing, there seems to be something going on with the actual tributes," Claudius said.

"That's what I thought! Did you see how they interacted at the parade?"

"Or how she got mad when he volunteered?"

"There is definitely something going on between them Claudius. If only we knew"

"Wait! I just received footage we can air!" Claudius said. The screen behind them the changed. It showed a girl, me, leaving my room. I knocked on Peetas door. It then showed Peeta's door opening and me going into his room.

"Unfortunately, we can't show what happens inside the room," Claudius said. The crowd booed at this.

"Well that is all for today" Caesar said and I turned off the TV.

"Don't let it bother you," Peeta said.

"I'm not" I said. "Anyways, I'm going to sleep," I said and got up. Peeta's hand pulled me back down.

"You can sleep here," Peeta said. "Come on, the cameras would make it worse for you if you leave" It was true though. But either way, it would be worse. I decided to stay so I got in the bed. I pulled the covers up on me and went to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi!**

**So I would like to thank my beta:Josh4eva3**

**I would like to thank all the people who reviewed this story. Hopefully we can get more reviews with this chapter. **

**Oh and I don't own the Hunger Games **

Gale's POV

We soon arrived at the Capitol. We walked right into the building and immediately went up to our floor.

"What do you think of the District 12 tributes?" Madge asked.

"Well, it's obvious that they are close," I said. It was unfortunate for them, because if it weren't for the fact that Madge and myself were in the games, I would have wanted the girl to win. Even though I didn't meet the District 12 girl tribute, I had a lot of respect for her. She volunteered to go to the games, not because she thought she could win, but to save her sister from going. However, the Hunger Games were not a place to value respect for your fellow tributes. Either Madge or I would come out alive. And in order to do that, everyone else, including the District 12 tributes, had to die.

"I think the girl has a chance. The boy looks strong too," Madge said. I know the boy looked strong, but I probably could take him on.

"I know."

"Do you think they could become our allies?" Allies? With them?

"No. I already have myself and you to look after. I don't want any other people to ruin our chances of winning," I said. It was true. Who says they won't stab us in the back when we turn around?

"I can look after myself!" Madge said.

"Sure you can Princess," I said before walking off, if I stayed, I knew I would have gotten into a bigger argument.

"Gale! Come here already! Your prep teams are waiting!" Johanna yelled. How Johanna managed to yell that loud I do not know. I casually walked down to were I heard Johanna's voice come from.

"About time," Johanna muttered. I looked around and saw that Madge and Blight were already there. To the corner, I saw six people I didn't recognize.

"Okay, this is each of your prep team, they are going to take you guys and make you guys look 'pretty'," Johanna said and laughed.

"I don't want to look 'pretty'", I said. I don't want stupid capitol people touching me in an effort to make me look better.

"Well, that sucks for you doesn't it?" Johanna said and laughed even harder.

"Sorry, but you have to go though with it," Blight said. I decided there was no point in arguing since I knew I wouldn't get what I wanted.

"Okay, who will be taking me?" I asked the prep teams. Three people raised their hands: one male and two females.

"Okay then, lets start," I said. The women squealed and pulled me into a room. They pushed me on my back and started undressing me. They proceeded to "pretty me up", as they called it. The trimmed my hair and cleaned my nails. They scrubbed me clean of all the dirt on my body.

"Perfect! Aqua will be pleased!" The male said. Aqua? I laughed at that; that sounded like a District 4 name. I heard the door open and saw a woman with vibrant orange hair walk in.

"Great! Now here is your outfit!" She said as she handed me a bag. I opened the bag and saw brown pants with a green shirt. She was dressing us up as trees. District 7 really needed a new stylist. She forced the clothes onto me and smiled at her work.

"Perfect! Now go wait for your partner at the chariots!" I mumbled an okay and left the room. I ran until I reached the chariots. I stood by the chariot marked with a 7 and waited for Madge.

A few minutes alter, Madge came, dressed exactly the same as me.

"This is so embarrassing" Madge said. I laughed at this.

"Yay! We're going to be walking trees," I said with fake sarcasm. We stepped onto the chariots and waited for them to move. I forced a smile onto my face as they started moving. I looked at the screen and saw that the cameras were focused on District 12. District 12 was lit in fire! I wish we had a stylist that could do stuff like that… The crowd then started yelling even more. I looked at the screen and saw that the District 12 tributes were holding hands. The chariots then all came to a stop and the President made his speech. I didn't listen to any of it and instead focused on all the other tributes. Finally, the chariots moved again and headed back.

"Finally, I can get out of this dumb outfit," I said and Madge laughed. We went to the elevator and pressed the "7" for 7th floor. Before the doors could close, the District 12 tributes ran in. The boy looked angry and I could tell the girl was trying to calm him down. I wonder what happened. I saw the girls eyes stay on his the whole time, as if they were having a private conversation. He then seemed to relax a bit.

"Nice outfits, I wish out stylist would do that for us," Madge said.

"Yeah, we were lucky," He said and laughed. The whole time Madge and the boy were having this encounter, I was looking at the girl. Trying to figure her out. The elevator stopped at the 7th floor and we got off.

"I like them. Can we at least see if they want to be allies with us?"

"Madge…"

"Please?"

"I'll consider it" I just said this so she could be quiet. I wouldn't consider it until I could tell that they are trust worthy. I don't want allies that will end up hurting Madge or myself. She seemed pleased with my answer because she smiled and happily walked to her room. I then walked to my room and layer on the bed. The bed was so comfortable. I instantly fell asleep.

**Review! **


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I love reading the reviews.

Also, another great job for my beta: Josh4eva3

And the disclaimer: I do not own hunger games

Chapter 7

Gale's POV

Madge and I put our training clothes on and headed down to the training center. A trained pinned the number "7" to my back. I looked around and saw that most of the tributes were here. I didn't know what to do first.

"You can do two things at the training center: practice what you're good at to intimidate the careers, or pretend to be weak by not being able to do anything," Johanna said to me during breakfast. I thought back to it now, I decided I would try to intimidate the careers.

I saw the axes and knew that's what I would do. I threw axe after axe at the dummy. I killed every dummy I threw at. I heard a person coming to the axe station. I turned around to see that it was actually two people: one of them must have been extremely quiet. Katniss picked up a small knife and walked in front of the dummy. I couldn't hear her move though, so I decided that she was probably the one with silent footsteps. I saw her fumbling to grip the axe. Once she got a hold of the axe, she threw it. The axe was only a few centimeters off. Throwing it that close, for a first time, was really good.

"Pretty good for a newcomer," I said and smirked.

"If you say so," She said. She continued throwing the axes and slowly she was getting closer to hitting the bull's-eye. She then looked at the boy and they both walked away. They went to the knives at station. She picked up a knife, and threw it. She hit bull's-eye. She picked up more knifes ad threw them simultaneously. She hit bull's-eye after bull's-eye. She would definitely be a big threat in the games. I decided to move onto snares. I knew I was already really good at snares. I started building an intricate snare. I built many snares until the head trainer announced that it was lunch. I saw Madge come near me.

"Here's your sandwich," Madge said as she handed me a bag. "Where do you want to sit?"

I looked around. One table was occupied by the careers. All the other tables were already filed with about 2 Districts - at least.

"How about we sit with Katniss and Peeta?" Madge said and nudged me in the direction they were sitting. At least it was only them at the table.

"Would it be all right if we sat here?" Madge asked.

"Of course it would!" Peeta said. We sat down. Madge and Peeta were the only people participating in the conversation. I was only half listening.

"Katniss?" Peeta asked.

"Huh? What?" It was obvious that Katniss had completely zoned out, much like me.

"Madge and I were talking about being allies," Peeta said. At the same time, Katniss and I jumped up.

"No!" We both said at the same time.

"No Peeta. I don't want to look after anyone else," Katniss said sternly.

"Well first of all, we can take care of ourselves. But I agree, I don't need extra people with me," I said.

"You guys both need to calm down and think about it. We would be able to protect each other," Madge said. Protect each other? Is she trying to make it harder for one of us to come home?

"Yeah. We would have each others backs," Peeta said. Is he serious?

"Peeta, I don't need anyone making my job any harder." Her job? And what is her job?

"And what's your job Katniss?" Peeta asked what I was going to ask.

"My job is to get you out alive from the arena." Sorry, but none of you guys can come out alive if Madge and I needed to come out alive.

"Not this again. I thought we agreed on trying to protect you," Peeta said and he rolled his eyes.

"Don't you start with me. We didn't agree on anything," She said as she pointed a finger at him. She then turned around and marched over to the sword station. We watched as Katniss picked up a sword and viciously attacked the dummy.

"She just doesn't get it," Peeta mumbled as he rubbed his temples.

"Get what?" Madge asked.

"Everything. She doesn't get that I'd practically kill myself if I made it out and she didn't, she's stronger out of the two of us. She would be able to move on, I wouldn't," Peeta cast his eyes downward the whole time. Was he in love with her? He then laughed as if nothing happened and looked up. He took a bit of his sandwich and then he let his eyes wonder. I saw the District 2 male get up from his table, and strut to where Katniss was attacking the dummies. I saw them talk for a bit. Then the boy started moving in on her. I looked at Peeta; he must have also been watching their encounter. In fact, Most of the tributes were. Peeta was gripping the table, hard. The boy must have said something to Katniss because her face expression changed. Cato continued talking. Katniss nodded before walking off. What did she agree to?

For the rest of the day, Katniss and Peeta spent their time separated. I could see that they both stealing glances at each other. I was at the knot tying session when Madge approached me.

"You know, you and Katniss are exactly the same." What? No way. There is no way I was as stubborn as her.

"How the heck am I similar to her?"

"For one thing, you guys are both scared to let people become close to you. You guys are both extremely stubborn. You guys both want the upper hand. You guys would both go to extreme lengths for your families. You know she also hunts illegally to feed her family? Don't even get me started on how much you guys look alike," She said all of this in a low voice.

"I mean, you guys both reacted exactly the same when Peeta and I mentioned the ideas of being allies." She got me there. That was true; both of us jumped out of chairs and were instant to disagree with the idea. We both also had similar reason for disagreeing. Maybe we were more alike then I thought.

"If you guys just gave each other the chance, you guys would become good friends," Madge said before walking off. The head trainer announced that it was time for the tributes to retreat to their floors. I saw Katniss sprint out of the room and run to the elevator. She probably wanted to be alone. I could tell Peeta wanted to run after her, but he didn't. He probably knew that if he did she would probably yell at him. Peeta, Madge and I all took the elevator together to our floors.

"It's okay, Peeta. She'll come around," Madge said. It annoyed me that Peeta and Madge were really good friends, maybe even better friends than Madge and me.

"Yeah, I know," Peeta said. The doors opened and Madge and I got off.

"Okay, how did training go?" Johanna asked.

"It went just fine," I said. Johanna looked at me and then Madge. Madge then proceeded to tell Johanna the days events.

"If I were you, I would propose a alliance with them," Johanna said. Great, another person thinking I need an ally.

"I told you Gale! District 12 could help us! Peeta's great with camouflage and Katniss can hunt!"

"Oh I'm sure she can hunt! What does she hunt? Flowers?"

"Maybe if you listen to Peeta you would have known her anther died when she was only twelve! That she had to support her family all on her own. She hunted outside the fence to support her family!" She hunted? She had the guts to hunt? I didn't have the chance to think about it because Madge got closer to me. She stood on her tiptoes and her face moved closer to mine.

"Yeah well I'm really tired, I'll see you in the morning," I said and turned my face quickly. I looked back at her and her eyes filled with water. I speed walked to my room before I could feel any more guilty. Even though a part of me really wanted to kiss her, I don't want any of us to get attached to something just in case we die.

I heard someone open the door.

"You really got her worked up over there," Johanna said.

"Yeah."

"Its obvious that you like her," Johanna said. I don't like her. How could I like her?

"Normally, someone like you wouldn't ally with someone like her," Johanna said.

"What is that suppose to mean?" I spit back at her.

"As in, its obvious your the fighter between the pair. Why would you protect a princess who will be nothing but extra weight in the arena? You like her, you just don't realize it," Johanna said. She then got up ad left the room. She had given me a lot to think about. Did I like her? I don't think I did…


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Katniss POV

I had a lousy sleep; I kept waking up from nightmares. It was the middle of the night right now and I didn't know what to do. I walked around my room for a little. I easily got bored of that. I thought about seeing Peeta. I played out the pros and cons in my head. One thing was that he could be mad at me, but most of the time he's forgiving. He could also be sleeping. The cameras could also catch it and it could be played to Panem. But if I did go, at least I would be with Peeta and I could sleep comfortably. _Screw it. I'm going to see him._ I slowly opened the door hoping that it wouldn't creek. I closed the door, being me, and tiptoed to Peeta's room. Just to my luck, the door wasn't even closed all the way so I could easily slip in. I made sure the door was closed behind me before walking over to the bed. Peeta was sleeping silently on his bed. I lifted up the covers and got under. Peeta began moving and I thought I woke him up but instead he just turned a bit and put his arms around me. Thoughts of my conversation with Portia began flooding my mind.

_"He loves you! He's willing to give his life up for you! He doesn't want his life without you in it!" _I could already see that he was willing to give his life up for me just as I was willing to give mine up for him, but did he really love me? I mean, I know he loves me as a friend but I never thought he would love me as anything but a friend. Of course, I did think about what it would be like to date Peeta before, but I never took it seriously. Peeta would most definitely treat the girl he loved like a princess; he would shower her with compliments and gifts. Peeta was a family man, he could tell that. He wouldn't be with a girl unless his family approved. Well, his family exempt his witch of a mother. He would look out for her no matter what.

It occurred to me, that's exactly how Peeta treated me. Peeta always complimented me. Even though I would rarely accept them, he always made an effort to buy me gifts. His family was friendly with me; that counts for something? I knew his mom hated me but don't really care about her. I knew Peeta didn't either. He is always looking out for Prim, getting her cookies and cakes or whatever she wants. He is trying to protect me, that's why he volunteered for the games.

Peeta _loves _me. Not only in a friend way, in a romantic way. What about me? Was there even a small part of me that liked him romantically? I wasn't sure of that yet.

The fact that Peeta's arms were around me now made it a lot more awkward. I didn't want to push them off though. I liked it. Being in his arms made me feel safe, and protected. Just like my father's did. Without thinking, I pushed myself into his chest even more. His arms tightened around my waist. As much as I hated to admit it, maybe I did like him just a little. Okay, maybe more than just a little. If I didn't tell him, then he wouldn't have to live knowing that I loved him, but if I did tell him, then maybe he'll understand I can't leave the arena without him.

I put my brain to rest. I turned around and put my head on his chest. I took a deep breathe through my nose and inhaled him in. I always loved the way he smelt. Normally, he would smell like pastries and bread, but that only makes sense since he works at the bakery. Now, he smelt like roses. Not that he smelled bad or anything; I just preferred the smell of bread. I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

"Katniss, Katniss wake up," I turned over and put my face further into the pillow.

"You can't stay like this forever Katniss."

"Peeta?"

"Yeah?"

"Please shut up," I said as I tried to block out his voice. I heard him laughing.

"Katniss, we have training today. Don't make me come over and tickle you," Peeta said.

"Okay I'm up!" I said. I slowly pushed my body upward so I could be met with his. I saw that Peeta was already dressed.

"Hey! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"Because, you look so peaceful when you sleep. You don't scowl. Anyways, here are you clothes and your breakfast is waiting for you. Hurry up so were not late," Peeta said as he handed me my training uniform. Peeta turned around so I could put my training clothes on.

"Okay, let me go eat," I grabbed his hand and pulled him with me to my breakfast. I looked at Peeta and saw that he was grinning like a madman.

"Shall I escort them today?" Effie said.

"No. It'll make them look childish," Haymitch said. Effie's face fell.

"Is that a new wig Effie? It looks really nice on you" Peeta said. Of course Peeta would know how to cheer her up.

"Why yes. Thank you for noticing!" Effie said as her frown instantly was replaced by a nice smile.

"Okay, I'm done. Let's go," I said as I stood up and made my way toward the elevator. Peeta stood up and followed me into the elevator. Once again, a trainer pinned the number "12" to us. We entered the room and immediately began working. I wanted to be able to have knowledge on everything just in case. I saw Thresh near the swords. He was holding a sickly sword and playing with it as if it were nothing. I walked over to his and picked up a sword near him. As I lend to get the sword I whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

"Just to let you know, the Careers are going after you first," To be honest, I didn't know why I was warning him. I knew that if I wanted Peeta to come home, Thresh needed to die. But I liked Thresh. He refused to play the games on anyone else's terms except for his own. The Careers asked for an alliance with him and he immediately refused! He didn't even think of taking it back to his mentor, like I did. I held Thresh on high terms. I looked up at Thresh. He nodded his head and mouthed a "Thanks" to me. I took the sword and began to strike the dummy. I stayed at the swords for a while. With the swords, Peeta did a lot better than me. He could kill the dummy with 2 or 3 strikes, whereas I would take 4 or 5 to kill the dummy.

"You'll never be as good as Cato."

"I don't need to be."

"Well at least you accepted you're of dying at the hands of a career," Clove said and laughed.

"Or maybe you should accept your fate of dying at the hands of me." Clove glared at me.

"You want to give it a go?" Clove asked as she pointed to the hand to hand fighting area.

"Katniss. It's not worth it" I heard Peeta say. Without even acknowledging Peeta, I walked to the area. I positioned myself and she did the same. I honestly had no idea what I was doing but I'm not one to back down from challenges.

"Ready…Set…Go," The District 1 female tribute said. Clove wasted no time. She ran at me with full force. She lifted her leg up to kick me leaving her left side open. I dodge her leg and kicked her side. However, my kick must have gone unaffected because she didn't even wince. She managed to pin me on the ground.

"Once I get you in the arena, I'll make you watch as I draw out lover boys death for you," Clove said. When I heard this, a sudden rush of energy flew threw my body. I was able to switch the positions so now she was lying under me.

"I swear to god, you lay one goddamn finger on him and I will make your death long and slow for you," I threaten. She laughed. I took my fist and punched her in the shoulder. She managed to move us around and punched me in the guts. I felt someone pull me off of her. I tried to break free of their grasp but I couldn't. I looked at Glimmer to call the match.

"Tie," Glimmer said and walked off. Even though the match was called, I still wanted to attack Clove. I raised my fist except someone got a hold of it.

"Katniss…it's not worth it," So it was Peeta holding me. He put his arm around my stomach and pulled me back. I thrashed around in his grip, but it was pointless. He was just too strong. I saw Clove get up and laugh. Cato was standing near us, laughing at the scene.

"Let me get at her! Peeta let go!" This only made his grip tighten.

"Katniss. Stop," Peeta said in a forceful tone. It actually scared me; I have only seen him use this voice with his mother. I stopped trying to get free from his grip. He turned around, took my hand and pulled me away.

"Fire girl takes orders from Lover boy? Well that's interesting," Cato said. I turned around quickly and faced Cato.

"Sure I do. And so do you, or are you too pigheaded to realize that you listen to Clove?" I didn't actually know if he took orders from Clove but I needed to say something to hurt his pride.

"You know you could tie me up and order me around any time" Cato said and smirked. I could tell Peeta was listening because he gripped my hand harder.

"Anyway, did you consider our offer Fire girl?"

"You and your offer can go to hell," I spat at him.

"You'll regret that."

"Katniss, calm down. Let's go practice how to swing a mace," He pulled me along with him by my arm. I glared at Cato and Clove the whole time I was being pulled away. I reached the mace station and I felt Peeta put one in my hand. Out of all the weapons, I thought the maces were the worst. It looked so painful. I also hated it because I sucked.

Later on, Gale and Madge joined us for lunch.

"We want to offer a kind of alliance", Gale said. I thought he agreed with me that we didn't need allies?

"What "kind" of an alliance?" I said. My voice showed that I wasn't impressed with this offer.

"Its not an actual alliance. Just if we run into each other when we need something we could make a trade. We wouldn't go after each other unless we become the final four," Gale said.

"Why don't we just make it a real alliance? I mean, it would make more sense, wouldn't it?" Peeta said. Peeta also wanted an alliance with them?

"That's what I thought," Madge said.

"That's up for you two to discuss," Gale said. I looked at Peeta, wondering what he would say.

"If you could excuse us," Peeta said as he stood up. I stood up with him and followed him into the corner.

"I think we should accept," Peeta said.

"Accept? An alliance with them? Yeah right!"

"Katniss, for one thing, it could help us. We could stay with them at least until the careers are taken down. Then we could separate."

"What if they can't do anything?"

"How about this, if they both get a high score tomorrow, we'll ally with them. If not, we won't," I thought about this, it sounded like a good deal.

"Fine. But they both have to get over 7," I said. Peeta smiled and we walked back to the table.

"We will give you an answer tomorrow," I said and they both nodded.

I stuck with Peeta for the rest of the day. We tried to get in as much as possible because tomorrow was the private interviews with the game makers. We practiced tridents, swords, spears, axes, edible plants and much more. I decided that I would do archery, knives and edible plants for tomorrow. I didn't want to do axes because Gale would probably do that, so the game makers would most likely compare me to Gale and he was definitely better.

By the time we went back to our floor, I was really tired.

"What do you plan on doing tomorrow?" Peeta asked.

"Archery, knives. You?"

"Probably the camouflage, throw some weights," Peeta said.

"Yeah, do that. You were a pro at it. What do you think Gale and Madge will do?" I said.

"Gale will no doubt use axes, Madge said she was pretty good with simple snares and nets. She'll get a decent score with that," Peeta said.

"How was training kids?" Haymitch said. We sat down with him and told him about the days events. He wasn't pleased when we told him about Clove and my match. However, he did approve of the alliance with District 7. He encouraged it to happen.

He then told us to go to our rooms, which we did. I was tired and needed good sleep. Peeta came to my room with me.

"You're staying tonight," I said. Peeta nodded and laughed.

"Wouldn't imagine leaving" Peeta stripped his shirt off and threw it to the ground. I couldn't help but stare. His chest was so perfect. His muscles were so toned. Peeta must have seen me because he smirked at me. I went into the bathroom to change into simple shirts and a tank top. I came out and saw that Peeta was already lying on top of the bed. I walked over to him, lifted the covers and joined him. At first I was hesitant to move closer to him, but eventually, I did it. It was a good thing I moved closer to him too because as soon as I did, Peeta snaked his arms around me. I sighed in content.

"Peeta could you do me a favor?" I sat up.

"Anything," I could feel his breath tickling my shoulder. Sensation spread through my body.

"Could you tell Prim and my mother that I loved them?" I knew this would bring up an argument of who would go home, but I didn't care. I was already determined to bring him home whether or not he liked it.

"I won't need to, you will be able to do that yourself," I knew it. Now we are going to argue about who comes home.

"Shut up and agree to do it."

"No. You can go home and do it," Peeta said as he sat up.

"You just don't get it do you?" I said. Why couldn't he just say okay?

"No Katniss, you're the one that doesn't get it."

"Get what?"

"Don't you see how much you matter to me? Katniss, if I went home without you, do you know what I'd do to myself?"

"You could move on! I wouldn't be able to."

"You have nothing to move on from! It's easy to find a new best friend!"

"And what exactly would you have to move on from?" I surprised Peeta there. For once, Peeta was speechless.

"Katniss…"

"No, you brought it up. What would you have to move on from?" I knew what his answer was; I just wanted him to admit it. Peeta looked at the floor. After what seemed like a decade, Peeta spoke.

"Katniss, I love you. More than a friend, that's why it would be harder for me to move on" Peeta talked slowly. I had to force myself not to grin like a Cheshire cat until I won.

"So what? It might be hard but you'll get over it. I won't!"

"Yeah, you will. You're stronger than me."

"I'm not as strong as you think."

"Yeah, you are!"

"I already lost my father, how will I deal with losing one of the only people that matter in my life?"

"You'll get over it!"

"No, I won't! Peeta you matter to me more than you think!"

"And how is that?" It was now my turn to look at the floor. I could tell him that I love him and that's why I couldn't live without him. I thought of any other options, but there were none.

"Peeta, you matter so much to me. You're one of the best things that ever happened. I love you too," I said. Peeta rolled his eyes.

"I know, but friends are easily replaceable"

"No Peeta, I like you a more than a friend" Peeta took in what I said.

"Is this some kind of a sick joke? If your only saying that to get me to agree to letting you die for me, then its not happening." I looked at Peeta in the eyes. My eyes started trailing lower. I soon met his lips, his perfect lips. I knew how I would prove to him this wasn't a joke. I slowly inched closer to his face. I looked up at his eyes one last time, before putting my lips on his. The deeper we got into the kiss, the more passionate it became. I put one of my hands on his chest and the other at the back of his head. Peeta put his arms on my waist. We were so involved with each other that we didn't even realize that the door opened.

"Woah, lover boys finally getting some," Haymitch said as we laughed. I took my pillow and threw it at him.

"Haymitch," I groaned.

"Don't worry, I'm leaving," Haymitch said as he left.

"Okay? It's not some kind of a sick joke," I said as I laid back down against him.

"If only I told you sooner," Peeta said.

"It wouldn't have changed a thing."

"Maybe it could have."

"I'm tired, let's go to sleep."

"Night Peeta."

"Good Night Katniss."


	9. Chapter 9

**A big thanks to my beta for doing this as quickly as she could and still being able to do a great job :). **

**Another thing I would like to address, is that there is another story, extremely similar to this story. The story is called **_**Only One **_**by **_**popcan11. **_**Her story is great and you should check it out. Before you guys freak out and think that I plagiarized her story, I would like to inform you guys that I chatted with her and she is fine with me using the story idea .I would like to thank her for her kindness for allowing me to use this story plot. But, you guys should really check out her story, her story idea is GREAT. There a complete story and she is working on her sequel, which is really interesting. So search her up, read her story and review it please :D However, I also have many plot twists to the story though so it won't be exactly the same. **

**I also do not own the hunger games.**

Chapter 9

Gale's POV

I woke up on time and went to eat breakfast. Johanna and Madge were already sitting there.

"Gale. We're talking, we're thinking its best to have some kind of an alliance with the 12's," Johanna said.

"Some kind?" I asked.

"Well, I don't know if you would agree to a normal alliance, so we thought up a different kind of alliance. Basically, if you cross paths in the games, you won't kill each other," She said. I guess I could agree with this.

"Okay," I said. I proceeded to eat my food.

"Okay, time to go," Madge said. I got up and we walked to the elevator.

"So what do you plan on doing for the private sessions?" I asked her.

"Knots, simple snares, and nets. I'm assuming you're doing axes?" She asked and I nodded. We walked to the training room. I didn't want to do axes and snares, since I knew I was already good at that. I decided to try the tridents and spears. I figured out that I was okay with them. I turned around and saw Katniss and Clove at the hand to hand area. They were both taking fighting positions. Clove charged at Katniss. Katniss put up a good fight, but unfortunately, Clove was able to pin her. I thought Katniss was going to lose until Clove leaned in and said something to Katniss. She responded by flipping over and pinning Clove down under her. She said something back to Clove and punched her. Clove punched her stomach throwing Katniss off guard. Katniss was about to throw another punch when Peeta intervened. He pulled her back and held her fist. She thrashed around in his arms and then just stopped. Peeta must have said something. The match was called a tie, which was extremely good for District 12. She would really be helpful if she were on our team.

We joined Peeta and Katniss for lunch.

"We want to offer a kind of alliance," I said. Katniss' facial expression showed that she wasn't impressed.

"What "kind" of an alliance?" She said.

"It's not an actual alliance. Just if we run into each other when we need something we could make a trade. We wouldn't go after each other unless we become the final 4," I said. Although, after seeing her fight wanted me to make a full alliance. It was obvious she was a strong contender and she could help Madge and me out.

"Why don't we just make it a real alliance? I mean, it would make more sense, wouldn't it?" Peeta said. That's good; if Peeta was on our side then he could sway Katniss. There was no way Katniss would leave him with us alone.

"That's what I thought," Madge said.

"That's up for you two to discuss," I said. Katniss turned her head to face Peeta.

"If you could excuse us," Peeta said as he stood up. Katniss stood up with him and followed him into the corner.

"You think they'll accept?" Madge asked.

"If we can prove to Katniss that were not extra weight, then yes. So that means we have to get good scores tomorrow," I replied. She nodded her head looked down. Peeta and Katniss joined the table.

"We will give you an answer tomorrow," Katniss said and Madge and I nodded. It was clear now that she was waiting for the training scores before accepting, which was reasonable.

I practiced at many stations before retreating to floor 7. I walked in and went immediately to the dinner table. I was hungry. I sat down at the table with Madge.

"Do you guys have a general idea of what you're going to do tomorrow?" Blight asked.

"Nets, knots," Madge answered.

"And you?" Blight said turning toward me.

"Axes," I said and he nodded at me.

"The trick is to always move to new stations. Go back and forth between two stations, it'll make the game makers think you're a lot better than you actually are" Johanna said. I started eating my food and went to bed.

I woke up. Today was the private sessions. I washed myself in the bathroom before going to eat breakfast. For once, breakfast was a completely silent occasion. We all focused on eating. I then stood up and looked at Madge, who stood up with me. We put our training uniforms on and made our way to the training area. Our District number was pinned to us and we were instructed to wait in a room with all the other tributes.

The game makers then started calling out the tributes. The first to go was District 1 male, then District 1 female and so on. Each tribute took about twenty minutes before leaving the room. The private sessions were the only event occupying today, so once you're done, you have a free day unless you want to get extra practice or something. I was so bored by the time they called my name.

"Good luck," Madge said.

"You too," I said before walking in. I looked around. The game makers were sitting with pens and note pads. Their eyes were trained on me. I walked straight toward the axes. I picked up several different axes and threw them at the dummies. I hit every dummy at the bull's-eye, which meant that if it were a person, I would have killed them. I continued with the axes for a while longer before going over to the snares. I built a complicated snare. Finally, I walked over to the weight. I threw weights around until they dismissed me. I left the room and went straight to my room, I was really tired. I opened the door and flung myself onto the bed, not even bothering to take my clothes off.

"Gale! Gale! Wake up! Its time to see the training scores!" Johanna yelled. I groaned and got up. I walked to where the TV was stationed. Everyone was sitting around it. The careers all scored between an 8 through 10. I eagerly waited until they finally sowed my picture and under it popped a "9"! A "9" was great, especially for a non-career. Madge's picture then came up, and a "7" came up under it. Madge seemed pleased with it. We continued watching. Thresh got a 9, which was also good. Rue got a 7. I wonder what she could have done to get a 7. Peeta's face then came up and an 8 flashed under it. Finally, last but not least, Katniss' face showed on the television. An 11 popped under it. I blinked my eyes, an 11? That must have been history! Nobody has ever gotten an 11! What could she have done to get an 11? I made a mental note to ask her.

"Good job guys!" Blight said.

"Yeah, you guys gave us numbers we can work with. Now about the alliance; you may want to reconsider, District 12 just made themselves the biggest threat in the games. However, both 8 and 11 especially are impressive numbers, so they could be extremely helpful" Johanna said. That was true; Katniss just made herself a target in the games. However, she must have a lot of knowledge on stuff, and we would have to fee the careers eventually.

"I think we should keep our offer for an alliance," Madge said.

"I agree," I said.

"Let's go ask them now" Madge and I got up and into the elevator. For the first time, we pressed a different number than 7. We went up to the 12th floor and saw Haymitch sitting at the bar.

"Congrats," Haymitch said to us.

"You should be congratulating your own tributes," I said to him. Haymitch laughed slightly.

"I did, trust me. They are congratulating each other right now. They're in Peeta's room if you want to talk about the alliance," Haymitch said as he pointed the direction of Peeta's room. Madge and I walked off to the room, as we got closer, we started hearing noises coming from the room.

"Peetaaa," We heard Katniss moan. I looked at Madge and we both burst out laughing. Now I understood what Haymitch meant by "congratulating each other". Why wouldn't they do this stuff? I mean, they do look like they're in love.

"Should we go in?" I asked.

"No, let them have their fun, we will write a letter and ask an Avox to deliver it," Madge said. We both turn around to head to the elevator.

"See what I mean?" Haymitch said as he laughed. We got into the elevator and made it down to our floor. It was already almost nighttime, so we would both stay there. It was a good thing too because I was in need of a break. I closed my eyes, and fell into a satisfying sleep.

**Review Please :))**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello!**

**This is IMPORTANT so please read. **

**I would like to let you guys know that this story will be put on hold for a while. I simply can't manage writing 3 stories during school. It won't be on hold for too long though. However, I will still be writing so when you guys do get an update, I hope to update a couple chapters at a time. Im not going to abandon this story, because I really enjoy it so don't worry! I appreciate all the support I have been getting! **

**If someone would like to use this story plot, I would be fine with it as long as you guys PM me beforehand. **

**I would really appreciate if you guys could read my story **_**Panem High School **_**and review to let me know what you think! **

**Don't give up on this story though because it is not ever going to be abandoned! Thank you, and Im sorry.**


	11. Chapter 11

Hello guys!

Unfortunately, I have decided to give this story up for adoption.

Fortunately, I found just the right person to do it! _Keeta4ever _will be taking over this story. I would appreciate if you guys follow and support her! And if you guys could take a look at my other story, _Panem High School, _that would be great!


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